


Laughter Lines

by Sternocleidomastoid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 03:10:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14632854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sternocleidomastoid/pseuds/Sternocleidomastoid
Summary: Harry hears Draco snort while laughing, and he commits himself to making that sound happen again.





	Laughter Lines

The first time Harry hears Draco snort, it's completely by accident. The common room is reasonably quiet, only a few low conversations going on. The one with Pansy and Draco is filled with refined, restrained laughter until there's a loud _SNRFF_ sound that tears out of Draco's throat.  
  
As soon as it leaves him, he looks up, cheeks already stained a hearty red. Pansy loses her composure as well and slips into her bark of a laugh.  
  
Draco and Harry make surprised eye contact. Draco's gone red and splotchy, which is quite charming, and he looks so embarrassed that Harry cracks a smile at him.  
  
Draco ducks his head shyly and turns away. Harry commits to making him laugh like that again.

* * *

  
"Draco," Harry says one day over breakfast. Draco lifts his head from where he's snickering with Blaise.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"My dog used to chase people on brooms. It got so bad, I had to take his brooms away!" Harry says with a straight face.  
  
Draco stares at him for a moment until his face splits into a wide grin, so much that his eyes narrow slightly.  
  
"I quite like that one," he says approvingly. Blaise rolls his eyes.

* * *

  
"Draco," Harry's already grinning when he approaches him in the courtyard. Draco closes his book and looks up, a small smile coming across his lips.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I just heard this joke - it's the funniest thing, but it's a touch long. Would you like to hear it?"  
  
Draco nods and scoots over so Harry can sit. He's glad he's introduced all the eighth years to Muggle cereals and that Cheerios happen to be Draco's favorite - this joke would be much harder to follow without that knowledge.  
  
"Once upon time in a land far, far away lived three Cheerio worlds," Harry begins grandly. "Perfect Cheerio World, Mediocre Cheerio World, and Non-perfect Cheerio World. Anybody who was anybody wanted to reside in Perfect Cheerio World, but unfortunately only the lucky few got the honor of living in Perfect Cheerio World. In Non-perfect Cheerio World, there was a Cheerio named Joe. Non-perfect Cheerio Joe was a regular person just like you and me. Day in and day out though he wished for a better world to live in. He believed he deserved the chance to experience Perfect Cheerio World because he worked his Cheerio butt off 24/7."  
  
He's caught the attention of Hannah Abbott and Luna Lovegood, who hover near them with interest.  
  
"One night when Non-perfect Cheerio Joe was on his way home from work, a Cheerio Genie visited him. The Cheerio Genie had noticed Non-perfect Cheerio Joe's constant dedication to his job, friends, and family and thought that he deserved a little loving himself. The Cheerio Genie allowed Non-perfect Cheerio Joe to have one wish."  
  
One by one, students are lining up to hear this story. Draco looks utterly entranced, mouth slightly open as he leans forward.  
  
He starts making shit up around fifteen minutes in, but wraps it up around twenty-five.  
  
"The server looked at him confused," Harry says, and his smile is so big it hurts, "“There is no punch line.”"  
  
There is a moment of peace before all hell breaks loose. Draco, the closest, throws his book at Harry in outrage. Hermione fights her way through the gathered crowd to shove him hard in the shoulder, and Pansy kicks him in the shin. Everyone gets their turn to assault Harry however they see fit (some claim they will never speak to him again because of this), and at the end, it's just Draco. He's already retrieved the book he threw, and he still looks terribly upset by the whole thing.  
  
"I can't believe you tricked me like that. I will never forget this betrayal," Draco says seriously.  
  
Harry pouts, "What if I tell you a story with a satisfying ending?"  
  
Draco considers it for a long moment before nodding. "If it's anything like your last one, I'm jinxing you."  
  
Harry smiles despite himself and begins to recall a story he's know by heart since he could read. It's one he's always liked, but the ending, while sad, concludes in a way that can't really leave you upset with the story, not really.  
  
Draco is frowning by the end, though. Harry finds he doesn't like that face on him.  
  
"Can I tell you one, then?" he asks quietly. "I mean- it's a dumb children's story my mother used to read-"  
  
"Yes," Harry says before Draco can talk himself out of it. Draco looks up in surprise. It's always easy to tell when he's blushing.  
  
"So," Draco begins, then clears his throat. The story is extremely tailored for small children, but it's nice to hear anyway. Draco even does different voices for different characters, which is the best thing he thinks he's ever heard.  
  
And it ends happily.  
  
"Brilliant," Harry says once Draco has finished. A wide, shy smile is his reward.

* * *

  
"Draco," Harry beams across the common room. Ron wrinkles his nose in confusion, but doesn't comment. Draco looks up, and there's a slight crease between his brow. Harry knows now that he has to tell a very good joke.  
  
"'I said to the Gym instructor "Can you teach me to do the splits?" He said, "How flexible are you?" I said, "I can't make Tuesdays.""  
  
The common room fills with groans amidst Draco's pleased spurt of laughter.  
  
"I quite like that one," he says, like he says at all the ones he likes.

* * *

  
Harry's tried at least ten jokes, but none of them have made Draco snort with laughter. In desperation, he turns to his last reserves.  
  
Draco smiles by default every time Harry calls his name now, which is nice. He never expected them to have such a nice, carefree relationship.  
  
"Why shouldn't you write with a broken quill?" Harry asks. Draco's grin widens a bit further.  
  
"Because it's pointless," Harry says. Their surrounding area groans, but Draco starts cackling like it's the funniest thing he's ever heard. Then, much to Harry's delight, Draco makes that little snort sound, _twice_.  
  
Puns. It's puns.

* * *

  
"Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now."  
  
Ron throws a pillow at him, but it's worth it because Draco's entire face lights up and he snorts when he laughs. Ron raises his eyebrow, quizzical, but Harry ignores it on favor of listening to Draco.

* * *

  
The next time Harry makes Draco laugh, he's close enough to kiss him. Harry's doing it before he's already fully processed it, and when he pulls away he's not quite sure he can ever look in the mirror without shame ever again.  
  
"I didn't mean to do that," Harry rushes out. Hermione clicks her tongue disapprovingly. Draco's entire face is red and he looks distinctly crestfallen.  
  
"I mean- I wanted to-" he amends quickly, relieved when the sadness in Draco's face disappates. "I should have asked- Sorry-"  
  
"Harry," Draco smiles, and it's so sweet and soft that Harry has to stop talking to just stare at him. "Hush."  
  
And then Draco kisses him back, once, and it's the best thing that Harry has ever felt.  
  
" _Gross_ ," Pansy says emphatically from her reclining position on the sofa, "I'm going to have to see you snogging each other now."  
  
Draco just smiles. Harry could fall in love with that gentle, pleased expression.  
  
Eventually, he does.

**Author's Note:**

> here take it im gay and i cant deal with this


End file.
